Late Night
by LemonStar
Summary: ..Marcus/Hermione.. "What are you doing up?" Marcus asked as she sank down next to him on the sofa, his arms immediately wrapping around her. Hermione smiled, closing her eyes. "You know I can't sleep without you."


**Late Night **by Lemonstar

_..Marcus/Hermione.. "What are you doing up?" Marcus asked as she sank down next to him on the sofa, his arms immediately wrapping around her. Hermione smiled, closing her eyes. "You know I can't sleep without you." _

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**..xx..**

" 'Cause now I wanna be,  
Where you sleep,  
Where you laugh,  
Where you breathe."

- _Nine Days_

**..xx..**

**H**ermione Granger woke up in a complete panic when she no longer felt his body next to her. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she frantically looked around the bedroom, still pitch black with the late night hour outside. Her eyes went to the alarm clock on the nightstand table next to the bed and she saw that it was nearly two o'clock in the morning. There was no reason for him not to be in bed, sleeping next to her, their bodies tangled together as they always were whenever they slept.

She reached out to his side of the mattress, feeling that it was cool. He had been awake and out of bed for quite some time already, only heightening her panic and now, her confusion.

Hermione pushed the green bed sheets and the black goose-down comforter from off her body, instantly shivering slightly when she felt how cold the bedroom had become during the night. She only wore panties and one of his jumpers to sleep in whenever she spent the night at his flat – which was most nights – but she also had his large body to keep her warm.

She couldn't believe how cold she felt without him next to her.

The flat was absolutely silent and Hermione stood next to the bed, her feet bare on the cold hardwood floor, listening for the slightest sound that would let her know of his whereabouts. She heard nothing though and her lips weighed down in a frown. She had no idea where he could have gone to if he had left the flat.

Why would he leave in the middle of the night in the first place?

Marcus Flint, her fiancé of almost two months, was an officer for the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement and often got called away in the middle of the night when he was needed for a case but he always woke her up to let her know that he was leaving so she wouldn't wake up in a panic-state like the one she was currently suffering through.

She didn't want to worry though. Not yet. Not until she checked every room and saw for certain that he wasn't there.

Creeping like a thief in the night instead of a young woman spending the night at her soon-to-be husband's flat, Hermione slipped from the bedroom and after peeking her head into the dark bathroom to find it empty, she made her way down the hallway.

Sometimes, with little random moments in time like this, Hermione still found it hard to believe that she was in Marcus Flint's flat and not only was she spending the night, but she was engaged to marry him. She had made love with him countless times and any moment of free time she had, she wanted to spend it with no one but him. Him. Marcus Flint of all people. If she sat down and really thought about it, it almost made her laugh. She never would have thought a year ago – or even six months ago – that she would fall hopelessly and completely in love with Marcus Flint, Slytherin and nothing more than a brainless oaf to those who saw and judged without ever knowing him.

But there she was.

Hermione Granger, Gryffindor princess and war hero, trying to find Marcus Flint because she couldn't sleep without him.

Many people didn't understand. She knew that and frankly, she was tired of explaining her reasons for wanting to be with him for the rest of her life. Apparently, to some, loving him more than anything wasn't a very good reason.

They would never understand how Marcus made her feel. The way he looked at her and treated her when they were alone and no one else was around to see, made her feel as if she was the temple and he had come to worship her. As they laid in bed, Marcus would often just look at her and gently run his hands and lips over her body, tasting every inch, wanting to feel every part of her body so he could memorize it for all time. He treated her with such gentleness, it sometimes almost made her cry.

He would say things to her in the private of either of their flats when no one was around who could possibly overhear but even if they did, who could honestly believe that Marcus Flint told Hermione Granger that he loved her or that she was beautiful or that he wanted her more than anyone? It had taken him such a long time to admit his feelings for her but now that they were out in the open between them, he had no problem now telling her that he loved her. He didn't say it constantly. Most of the times, he would just whisper it to her in the dark of the night when she was on the verge of sleep and it almost felt like a dream.

Poking her head around the corner, peering into the living room, she sighed softly in relief upon seeing Marcus sitting on the couch, in complete darkness and silence. She paused for a moment before going to him. Something was wrong. She knew immediately. She just didn't know what it could be. He had been quiet during supper and then afterwards as they both sat on the couch, him watching the television and she trying to figure out seating charts for the wedding reception. They were getting married in April and it being February already, Hermione was planning everything down to the finest smallest point as she tended to do with everything else in her life.

It wasn't out of the ordinary however for Marcus to be quiet. He usually always was. He was the very definition of the strong, silent type of man and Hermione was definitely the talker between them.

She instantly felt guilty for not picking up on something being wrong with him sooner. She wondered if something had happened that day at work.

Marcus turned his head, looking up at her when he heard her approach. "What are you doing up?" He asked as she sank down next to him on the sofa, his arms immediately wrapping around her, pinning her body tightly to his.

Hermione smiled, closing her eyes. She instantly felt warm again and she nestled into him a bit more. "You know I can't sleep without you," she whispered tiredly and she felt his lips rest against her forehead.

He was wearing black sweatpants and no shirt and Hermione wondered how he could possibly stand the drafty air without at least shivering. She pressed her cheek against his shoulder and her hand slid around his chest to rest on his right bicep, her fingers tracing the tattoo she knew was there. She loved Marcus' tattoo: the Chinese symbol for snake – and she was always touching it or kissing it. He had gotten another one shortly after their engagement on his left shoulder blade – the letter "H" and the letter "M" tattooed and intertwined together in an intricate design that had made Hermione cry when he showed it to her.

"Why aren't you in bed?" She asked.

Marcus didn't respond immediately and instead, he slowly lowered one of his hands down from her waist, where he held her, to cup one of the cheeks of her bum. She tilted her head up and looked at him and their eyes locked together.

"It's my dad's birthday today," he answered, his voice low.

She wasn't sure what to say to that. She knew he missed his dad, which only confused her, because Marcus had never had a good relationship with Michael Flint. She supposed that since Michael was the only family Marcus had left, that not speaking with him or even being a part of his life was still sometimes hard for Marcus to deal with. Hermione knew that Michael hated her even though she had never met the man. He was a Slytherin pureblood and for his only son to be with a… girl like her, she knew that Michael disowning Marcus was the least harmful thing he could do to them.

"Every year, no matter what things were like between us, on my father's birthday, we'd go to the Slytherin Club in Knockturn Alley for drinks and cigars," Marcus said, staring straight ahead at the cold, empty fireplace across the sofa.

His hands were touching her more now and Hermione moved back slightly so his hands could reach more places on her body. She knew that right then, as he was talking, he needed to be touching her. He needed to feel that she was right next to him. One hand caressed her bum as the other rubbed her knee before moving up her thigh and then back down again. She reached up and began scratching the back of his head, her fingers moving through the short hairs there. She knew he loved when she did that and she could feel how tense he was and how much comfort he needed.

Marcus sighed heavily, shaking his head. "It's stupid, I know. I don't miss him. At all. Hell, I actually hate the man. But…" he sighed again and rested his head on the cushion of the sofa behind him, looking up at the ceiling. "It was just our thing."

"Maybe you should go there later this afternoon," Hermione suggested. "If he's there, you could talk to him-"

"I don't want to talk to him," Marcus interrupted, turning his head to look at her. "If I talk to him, he's only going to say something about you that will make me punch him."

She smiled at that, leaning towards him. "I never thought that hearing a man threatening to beat up another man would sound so sweet to me."

He smirked at that then pressed his lips to hers, kissing her firmly. "I only do it for girls I love."

Hermione slipped her arms around his neck and Marcus slid his hands up her thighs to grasp her hips. She smiled, resting her forehead against his. "And what girls do you love, Marcus Flint?"

"For being the cleverest witch in your class, that is a really daft question, soon to be Hermione Flint," he said with the same smirk across his lips and she laughed.

That was another part that people would never understand about Marcus Flint and Hermione Granger being together. They would never think that Marcus made her laugh. They probably wouldn't believe that he, of all people, could make her happy.

"Can you really not sleep when I'm not there next to you?" He asked her, pulling her body closer to his until she was practically straddling his lap.

"I really cannot. It seems that I'm addicted to your body heat," she said. "What about you? Can you sleep when I'm not with you?"

He shrugged, pretending to be indifferent. "I'll tell you. I sleep better without you. You're a cover thief. I've been freezing for the past few months."

Hermione gasped in mock-shock and he laughed as she swatted at his shoulder, trying to push herself away from him. He only held onto her tighter though and bent down, pressing a kiss to her throat.

"Thank you," he whispered. "For distracting me."

She smiled, closing her eyes and hugging him. "Now you can do something for me," she said, pulling her head back to look into his face again. "You can come back to bed. I have a busy day at work tomorrow and I need a good night's sleep."

Marcus smirked before cupping the back of her head and kissing her deeply, his tongue pushing forward into her mouth, successfully making her moan softly. Hermione moved her body towards him, straddling his lap and sitting down on his thighs, their lips never separating. Her hands cupped his cheeks and she felt his hands on her bum, squeezing the globes, grinding her down on top of him and his growing erection inside of his sweatpants.

She pulled back momentarily and tugged the jumper off over her head, tossing it onto the floor behind her. She gasped as the cold air of the room hit her nipples and Marcus pulled her mouth down again, kissing her hard and demanding, his hands reaching to cup both of her breasts.

"What about sleep?" Marcus asked, his voice slightly out of breath before placing his hands on her back and pushing her breasts towards his mouth, hungry for them.

"Sleep can wait," Hermione breathed heavily, gripping his hair in her fingers and crying out softly into the night as he lavished his attention on her – another reason for her to want to be with him for the rest of her life.

Marcus Flint was always very attentive to Hermione Granger – especially during the late nights like that when it felt as if they were the only two people in the world who needed one another more than anyone. The two people in the world meant to be together – whether anyone else understood or not.

..XX..

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A/N: I absolutely love Marcus and Hermione – even in completely pointless one-shots like this. I hope some of you enjoyed it and maybe have even come to love this unconventional couple like I have. I hope to write more little one-shots like this leading up to their wedding. Please let me know if you would want to read something like that. Thank you and reviews are very much appreciated.


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